Julia's Turkey + Ricotta Meatballs

On Saturday morning I watch CBS Saturday Morning.  My very favorite part of this show is when they highlight a chef.  They tell the chef's story, have a big table filled with food and usually a drink.
And they interview the chef and have them sign a white plate and tell who they would most list to share 'this' meal with.

Something about friendly Julia Turshen had me ordering her cookbook within minutes.

Now.  I am a sucker for cookbooks.

But I have to be honest, I rarely make ANYTHING!!

I continue to make my old standbys.

But, I tried Julia's Turkey + Ricotta meatballs.

And they were so easy and delicious, I just have to pass it on.

The small victories:

I made something from a cookbook

It turned out GREAT.

I used ground turkey for the first time.

I ate Turkey + Ricotta meatballs for five days.

Used a side of my ancient grater for the Parmesan cheese and it was amazing.

I used fresh parsley and fresh basil.

Lots of it.

These meatballs have a ton of flavor.

The main flavors were garlic and basil.  I think.

I don't have a very sophisticated palate.

I will share the meatball recipe here.

Julia includes a tomato sauce recipe also, 

but I just wanted to use the Rao's sauce I had on hand.

2 pounds ground turkey (room temp)

1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese

1 cup basil (chopped)

1 cup Italian parsley (chopped) 

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

3 cloves garlic (minced)

That's it.  No carbs...for those of you who are limiting carbs.

Preheat oven to 425*

Prepare a baking sheet.  Drizzle a few Tbsp Olive Oil on foil covered sheet.

Mix all ingredients together in large bowl.

Stir lightly. (I over-stirred and had tough meatballs...but that was my fault.  Don't be like me.)

Make golf ball sized meat balls.  Use wet hands so the meat does not stick too much.

They will fill up a whole cookie sheet.  They can touch a little.

Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake about 25 min.

Make tomato sauce or open a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce.

Pour in a big dutch over aka Pot.  

Place meatballs on top of sauce and cover a little.

Cook for ten minutes.

You can serve this on noodles if you like,

I just ate them in a bowl with sauce poured over them.

I needed to buy more Rao's because I ran out of sauce quickly.

I think I will start with two jars next time.

 Please try these!  They are amazing.

Thanks Julia Turshen!

The Easy Chef,

Donna Elsie

p.s. the only thing that would have made this a complete hit is if my husband would have tried them.

But honestly, I never expected him to try them and made them for myself!  

So there.

As my mom would say,

"More for me."